


they can't change what we started, if we stop keeping a secret

by bothsexuals



Category: Community (TV)
Genre: M/M, Secret Relationship, Sharing Clothes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-14
Updated: 2020-06-14
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:53:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,279
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24717121
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bothsexuals/pseuds/bothsexuals
Summary: Troy wears Abed's shirt and realizes something.
Relationships: Troy Barnes/Abed Nadir
Comments: 33
Kudos: 340





	they can't change what we started, if we stop keeping a secret

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [can we always be this close (forever and ever)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24529396) by [sorryforthedead](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sorryforthedead/pseuds/sorryforthedead). 



> Goodmorning/afternoon/evening/late hour of the night when you probably shouldn't be awake, everybody. So, before you read this I need you to know that like 90% of the credit for this goes to ao3 user iknowplaces for telling me about his wanting to write a faberry fic with the sharing clothes trope, therefore giving me the idea to write a trobed one, and for writing said wonderful fic which was just so chef's kiss that it undoubtedly seeped into mine. Go read his fic. Seriously. Even if you don't watch Glee- I don't watch Glee and his faberry fics are my favorite thing in the universe. 
> 
> Also, yeah, I got overly attached to Neil after he was in one episode, and what about it? I will give him more character traits and make him support my favorite gays. And. What. About. It. 
> 
> Title from "Keeping A Secret" by Bleachers (thanks Jana for recommending this). Enjoy!

Troy would have loved to say he hadn’t meant to grab Abed’s shirt that morning, had simply picked it up instead of his own as he got dressed in a hurry and only noticed when it was too late to change. The reality of the fact was that Abed had left his arms way too early that morning, leaving Troy alone in their blanket fort with a soft kiss and a promise to see him that evening. His cousin was in town, and Abed was skipping school in favour of spending the day with her, which meant Troy wouldn’t see him the whole day, and at the risk of sounding clingy, Troy had to admit he really didn’t like that. 

So, when he had seen the shirt Abed had worn the afternoon before lying on a cushion he had very consciously grabbed it and put it on, revelling in how it smelled just like him. He hadn’t really thought about the implications of such an act, like the fact that it might just reveal to everyone else that he was dating Abed, had been for months now, something that _he_ had asked to keep a secret, not ready to deal with his parents’ and Shirley’s certain disapproval. He only realized it when it was too late, and he was sitting in the study room, glancing a little sadly at Abed’s empty chair. 

“Have your arms always been that big?” Annie asked. 

“Please don’t objectify me,” he replied, “I am more than a sexy body.” 

Annie rolled her eyes and laughed, while Jeff eyed him carefully. 

“His arms aren’t that big,” he said defensively, “it’s clearly just the shirt that’s too tight.” 

“It is a little small,” Britta said, “is it new?” 

“I feel like I’ve seen it before,” Annie interjected. 

“Can we study, please?” Troy said a little too loudly, a little too anxiously, “It’s just a shirt.” 

“Yeah, and his arms are a normal size,” Jeff added, “so let’s study some spanish.” 

“Jeff, we do biology now,” Britta corrected him. 

“Whatever,” he shrugged, and they started studying (or something kinda like it). 

  


***

  


“I know where I’ve seen that shirt before,” Annie announced, skipping over to him in the hallway. 

“You’re still on this?” he asked, trying to sound annoyed rather than anxious, because Annie was smart and she could easily make the connection between Troy wearing this shirt and Troy being Abed’s boyfriend. 

Annie shrugged, “Kind of a boring day otherwise. Anyways, Abed has one just like it.” 

“He does?” he asked, his voice cracking a little bit on the words. 

_Please don’t make the connection, please don’t make the connection, please don’t make the connection._

Annie nodded, then furrowed her brows. “Kinda weird that you didn’t know that,” she commented. 

“Well,” Troy replied a little too defensively, “it’s not like I know everything about Abed.” 

It wasn’t a lie, technically, because he didn’t. He learned more and more about him everyday, and he loved all of it, and wanted to spend his life getting to know everything about him. But for now, he didn’t, so it wasn’t a lie, so he didn’t have to feel guilty. 

“Could’ve fooled me,” he heard Annie mutter under her breath. 

“I gotta get to class,” he mumbled, and quickened his step to get away from her before he ruined all the effort he and Abed had put into not being found out by her at the apartment, by accidentally revealing to her and everyone else that he was gay and hopelessly in love with his best friend. 

  


***

  


“Hey, Troy,” Neil greeted him as he sat alone in the cafeteria, waiting for the rest of the study group to show, “where’s Abed?”

“He’s not here,” Troy replied a little sadly, “his cousin’s visiting.” 

“Oh, cool.” Neil gestured at the chair in front of Troy, a silent question, and Troy nodded. “Is that his shirt?” Neil asked with a small frown once he had sat down. 

Troy looked down at the shirt he was wearing, as if he hadn’t been extremely aware it was Abed’s because of how snugly it fit him and how it smelled just like him, then looked back up wearing a confused expression. “How do you know Abed’s shirts so well?” 

“He was wearing it when we played D&D yesterday,” Neil shrugged, “I have a pretty good memory. It’s a little tight on you but it looks nice. Oh, if you’re sharing clothes now, Abed should wear that yellow shirt you wore last week, it would complement his skin tone well.” He raised his hands defensively when Troy quirked an eyebrow. “What? I like fashion. I can have more than one interest.” 

“‘Course you can, buddy,” Troy conceded. “I’ll uh- I’ll let him know,” he added, the idea of Abed wearing his clothes sending a shiver up his spine. 

“Cool,” Neil said with a nod, “oh and I know it’s not public yet but uh- I think you guys are great together.” 

“You- what?” Troy sputtered. 

“You’re dating, aren’t you?” Neil asked, lowering his voice so no one else would hear him.

“Is it obvious?” Troy asked in a nervous whisper.

“I don’t think anyone else knows,” Neil quickly reassured him, “I just have pretty good gaydar, and, well, I got a little suspicious after he made a character in D&D for you whose main trait was having a big-” 

“Alright!” Troy loudly interrupted him, then groaned, “No offense, Neil, but I can’t believe you’re the one who found out first.” 

“None taken,” he shrugged, “but to be fair I have been spending a lot of time with Abed since he joined my league, and he never stops talking about you.” 

“He doesn’t?” Troy couldn’t help but ask in a soft voice, feeling a blush creep up his cheeks. “Uh, I mean-” he cleared his throat, trying (and failing) to regain his cool. 

“Hey, it’s alright, dude, you can be cute about your boyfriend,” Neil said with a laugh, “God knows I’m used to hearing _his_ side.” 

“My _boyfriend_ ,” Troy repeated, marveling at how easily the word rolled off his tongue, “I never called him that in front of anyone else before.” 

“How’s it feel?” Neil asked. 

“Pretty fucking awesome,” Troy admitted, and repeated the word again, feeling kind of thankful that Neil had been the one to find out and not someone like Jeff, who would’ve made fun of him for being so in love with Abed, or Britta, who would probably have been making a long speech about her allyship by that point. But Neil seemed content to just sit there and smile supportively as Troy came to some sort of realization about the fact that Abed being his boyfriend was the most wonderful thing to have ever happened to him, so Troy was happy it had been him. 

“Heads up,” Neil said after a while, subtly gesturing behind Troy to alert him of the arrival of the rest of the study group. 

“Hey, guys,” he greeted them. 

“Troy,” Pierce said, and then angrily, “Neil.” 

“Pierce, if you’re gonna be a dick you can leave right now,” Troy sighed. 

“Please, _oh, please_ leave,” Jeff said. 

“Fine,” Pierce huffed, “I know when I’m not wanted.” 

“Never,” Jeff called after him as he left, “you are never wanted.” 

“That wasn’t very nice,” Shirley commented as they sat down. 

Jeff shrugged and laughed, “I honestly do not care.” He turned towards Neil and acknowledged him with a friendly nod. “See, this is great.” 

“Would be better if Abed was here,” Troy muttered without thinking, and felt his cheeks heat up at the sound of Jeff’s annoyed groan. He felt a little better when he raised his gaze and saw both Annie and Neil smiling warmly at him.

He played with the hem of his - _Abed's_ \- shirt while his friends idly chatted and ate their lunch, their words never quite reaching his ears. This could mean something, he realized. People could look at him wearing Abed’s shirt and know what it meant. They could know he was Abed’s, they could know he was so in love with his boyfriend he needed to keep him close by wearing his shirt when he was away for just one day. 

The idea didn’t scare him as much as it used to; it used to be terrifying, paralysingly so, but now… his talk with Neil had shown him that it didn’t have to be a big deal. It would be to some people - he grimaced as his gaze fell on Shirley, that one would definitely be painful- but maybe to some, it would just be good news - he looked at Annie, and she immediately met his gaze and offered him a sweet smile. 

“You alright, Troy?” she asked. 

“Yeah,” he nodded, and was surprised by how much he meant it, “I’m great.” 

  


***

  


“Abed!” Troy exclaimed when the door opened to reveal his boyfriend. He leaped into his arms and kissed him soundly, taking advantage of the fact that Annie wasn’t home. 

“Hey,” Abed said when they pulled apart, “how was your day?” 

“Weird,” Troy replied with a frown, “yours?” 

“It was fun. Why was yours weird?” He did a double take as he noticed the shirt Troy was wearing, and pointed at it. “That’s mine.” 

“That’s why,” Troy sighed. Abed’s brows furrowed, and Troy took his hand and led him inside the pillow fort. They sat down on the bed, hands still intertwined, and he spoke again. “Neil knows about us.” He saw worry flash over Abed’s eyes, and immediately reassured him, “It’s okay, he was… pretty great about it, actually. But uh- this whole thing made me realize something.” He saw worry again, and quickly added, “Something good, I promise.” 

Abed sighed in relief, and Troy just had to smile at how adorable his boyfriend was. 

“Okay, so, I kinda got a lot of questions about this shirt, and I guess I sort of wish I could’ve just answered that it’s my boyfriend’s,” he said. 

“Are you saying you want to tell people?” Abed asked, sounding a little unsure. 

“I’m ready,” Troy nodded, “I want everyone to know I’m yours. Even the people who won’t like it.” 

He couldn’t say anything else because suddenly Abed’s lips were on his, kissing him sweetly, and telling Troy what Abed was feeling before he even put it into words. 

“I’m proud of you,” Abed said anyways, “and I love you.” 

“I love you too,” Troy said, opting for honesty over the _Star Wars_ reference. 

“If we’re going to do this,” Abed perked up excitedly, “we need to do it right. You still have your letterman jacket, right?” 

  


***

  


Annie furrowed her brows as she walked out of her room and saw Troy and Abed, ready to head to school. “Are you guys wearing each other’s clothes? What’s going on?"

Troy looked at Abed a little nervously, and Abed nodded reassuringly. He turned back at Annie and tried his best to sound casual as he said, “Nothing, just wearing my boyfriend’s clothes.” 

Annie’s face went through a dozen different emotions in the span of a few seconds, and finally she gasped and exclaimed, “Oh my god! You guys!” 

She pulled them both into a hug, and Troy let out a relieved breath. 

“I’m so glad,” she added, bringing a hand to rest above her heart as she pulled away, “I was starting to worry you’d never realize.” 

“Hey, it’s been a long time,” Troy said defensively, “we’re not stupid. We just have homophobic friends.” 

“We can kick Pierce out,” Annie whispered conspiratorially, “and I’ll have a talk with Shirley.” 

“Can you talk to Britta too?” Abed asked, “She’s probably gonna be weird.” 

“Fine,” Annie sighed, “I’ll just do all the work while you two walk around being adorable.” 

Abed and Troy looked at each other, nodded, then looked back at her. 

“Yeah,” Troy said with a shrug, “that sounds like a good plan.” 

  


***

  


“Is that Troy’s jacket?” Jeff asked, quirking an eyebrow, “you guys are reaching previously unseen levels of gayness, huh?” 

Abed sensed Troy’s discomfort before he even had time to react and immediately grabbed his hand. 

“Well,” he said, "I've always liked the wearing your boyfriend's letterman jacket trope." 

“Boyfriend?” Jeff echoed, then groaned loudly, “Oh god, I think I owe Annie money. When did this happen exactly?” 

  


***

  


“Is it true?” Britta asked, grabbing each of them by a shoulder and sounding slightly out of breath, “Are you dating?” 

Troy happily nodded, and raised their intertwined hands to further drive the point home. 

“Oh my god,” Britta breathed, placing her hand over her heart, which Troy had to guess was beating like crazy, “you guys are so-” 

“You get five words,” Abed interjected. 

Britta looked thoughtful, and counted the words on her fingers. “I’m very happy for you?” 

“Perfect,” Troy said, “thanks, Britta.” 

  


***

  


“Hey Neil,” Abed greeted the man as they sat down in front of him in the cafeteria, “thanks for being nice to Troy about us dating.” 

“No problem,” Neil said and eyed the yellow shirt Abed was wearing beneath Troy’s letterman jacket with a smile, “thanks for following my fashion advice.” 

“No problem,” Troy replied with a smile of his own. 

He grabbed Abed's hand, just like he had many times before, hidden beneath the table in the study room or the cafeteria, or in the secrecy of their pillow fort. He grabbed Abed's hand, but this time, their hands rested on top of the table, and his name stayed written in big block letters across Abed's back, for everyone to know he was Troy's, and Troy was completely, undoubtedly, unashamedly his.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! As usual, please leave kudos and/or a comment if you enjoyed this.


End file.
